Goals
Internship Goals
Goal #1: Gain a deeper understanding of the knowledge that goes into the work that I’m doing.
My main strategy for achieving this goal has been to ask as many question as I can when I am unsure about something. If I ask questions on the subjects that we are working on, I will gain this understanding and not just do the work without really knowing what I am doing. I have already started to get a general understand of what kind of data we are getting and why, but I still think I could have a better understanding of what we are actually doing to get the data.
Goal #2: Get proficient in the methods that they use to analyze and study the bones. Enough to do them on my own.
Just using the programs and doing the techniques enough will grant me the skill to do the tasks. Eventually, enough practice will allow me to be able to do them on my own. I have already used the various computer programs such as BIOQUANT to study the bones and analyze various areas of interest. I am already starting to learn the general process of what we do for our studies and getting to do each part is going to be the next step. Once I am familiar with what each step looks like, then all there is to do is just keep practicing and I should gain enough proficiency to do them on my own eventually.
Goal #3: Gain transferable skills or connections that will allow me to succeed in future educational or professional settings
Most of the methodology that is used in this lab is used across a wide variety of labs and can be applied in other fields including other medical fields. Plus, I am sure that I am going to learn different skills that will apply much more broadly than the bone specific tasks that I may have done so far. All of the people in the lab are willing to connect with me as well, giving me valuable relationships that I can have for the rest of my career. Also, there is a lot more collaboration between people in the building that the lab is located in than I thought. So, I could possibly meet other researchers in the building that are working on projects with us and see what their perspective on the study is.
Another professional goal that I have for this year is to make sure that I have an internship or job that is relevant to research lined up for the summer before the summer actually begins. As of now, I don't really have anything lined up, but I really don't want the summer to go to waste, or get a job that won't really help me in the future. I am certain that this internship will give me transferable skills that will be appealing to companies which will hopefully lead to some sort of position over the summer.
Career Goals
My current career goal is to get into medical school and choose a neuroscience based area to focus on. I am very much in love with neuroscience and as much as I love doing the bone research that I have done with this lab, I don't think there is anything that could pull me away from neuro. I have had this goal since I started college and I still intend to complete it, though I knew how important it was to get familiar with other disciplines than neuroscience and how important having an understanding of research was. I tend to set goals for myself, even if they seem difficult at the time, I eventually complete them. It doesn't really bother me how much work or how long it takes, as long as I eventually sit down and get it done I can be successful. The only career goal that I may alter is how big of a role research plays in my professional life. I have looked at M.D. PhD programs that IU Med has, but they seem quite difficult to get into and I am unsure of my chances. If the opportunity presents itself though I will do my best to achieve it. I believe that this research experience has taught me a lot and given me a valuable experience for what I want to do with my future, and if this passion stays into my career I think I will be more happy and successful than I could have imagined.
Another way I could grow this year is to try to learn more about different research that is going on. I have never really been up to date on what is really going on in the science world other than the immediate research of our lab, but it will be important in the future no matter what career I choose, so staying up to date on new science is an important habit to create now.
Other things I need to do this year outside of this internship to grow closer to achieving my goals include staying diligent in my studies so that I do not slip up towards the end of my undergraduate career as well as coming up with a more concrete plan for what I want to do in the future. Doing well in school has always been a priority for me and as my four years here come to an end, I may start to let careless mistakes slide. I think it is of the most importance to stay strong and make sure I am trying my hardest in all of my classes so that I don't have any major slip ups. I also need to start having a more clear idea of my future, or at least my more immediate future. This research experience has been pretty transformative for me and I think it is what I would like to do for the rest of my life, but coming up with a more solid plan will be key to making sure I achieve that goal.
My goals have also drastically changed from when I first applied for LHSI. At that time, I knew that I was going to need to get research experience one way or another, but I still wasn't sure if it was something I would be ok with doing for the rest of my life. My goals have primarily switched from learning about the research world to planning on how I am going to enter the research world. For the rest of this spring semester I will spend much more time doing research on graduate programs that I think I would be interested in considering that is what I plan to do. My largest career goal as of now is to get as much research experience as I can and get into graduate school.
I came into this internship really torn on whether I wanted to go to med school after undergrad or if I wanted to go to grad school and try to get a Phd. I knew that if I had a good experience here I would probably end up choosing the grad school route so that I could do my own kind of research in the future, and fortunately, I love it here and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I truly realized and accepted this a couple of months ago when I was walking to the lab. I just thought to myself, "would I really want to be doing anything different?" and I couldn't really tell myself no. So I decided to go all in on it, and I will be applying for grad schools next semester and I already have a few programs in mind for where I want to go. At this point I feel like I know my preferences and goals enough to understand that this is what I want to go into, but I am still have a long way to go a lot more experience to get before I really decide what I want to study specifically and I plan to get that experience soon. I trust that the knowledge I have know will be enough to make career decisions that I won't regret later, but I also understand that bigger decisions may be too big right now.
Now that I am fairly certain on what I want to do, I need to come up with a path to achieve that goal. I know that by the end of grad school, I would like a Phd. in some sort of Neuroscience subfield which I haven't decided on yet. I know that I want to do disease fighting of some sort, but as for what disease and how I am going combat it, I am undecided. I know that I need to find a Neuroscience lab somewhere and apply to their graduate program, but I have already started looking and it's quite the expansive field. Especially since I don't know "exactly" what I want to study, it makes it quite difficult to find a lab or school were you think you would be a good fit. I know that I am going to apply to a lot of places and make my case as to why I am a good fit there, but right now, specifics are hard to come by. This spring semester I am going to take a look at a lot of graduate schools that I could possibly go to as well as take the time to research specific labs I would be interested in being apart of. Making sure that I know the requirements for each school will be important and having visits so that I know for certain, the place I pick is the correct place for me. Then over the summer, I already have another internship set up so that I can get even more experience in a more full time setting. The fall semester will then involve applying and visiting grad schools as well as staying caught up on all the school I am going to be doing including my capstone class where I will hopefully get more laboratory experience and even more knowledge on what exactly I want to do.
I think this internship has really shown me what I value in the workplace more than anything else. Going to med school would involve a lot more schooling and a lot less science than I would want to do right out of college. Now that I know how much I enjoy doing research, I don't think that I would want to stop any time soon which means that I don't think med school is for me. My skills in the work place have also very much contributed to the career path that I have chosen. Not only do I have a detail oriented work style which greatly helped me here, I have also gained many computer and laboratory skills that would greatly help me in more laboratory settings than just this one. These have all made me love the research I do more as well as want to keep doing research more in the future.